Things We Should Know About Paralympic Games

Things We Should Know About Paralympic Games

There are things that we should know about the Paralympic games and it usually takes place about 10 days after the traditional Summer Olympics. Sir Ludwig Guttman was a leading Jews neurologist who escaped to England during WW2 and he strongly advocated that disabled people could still achieve impressive physical strength and fitness with specialized training and therapy. He established the National Spinal Injuries Center in the United Kingdom. His works became the basis of the Paralympic games, which is aimed for people with disability. He organized various competitions for disabled people and starting from 1960, the first Paralympic games were held in Rome. For his works, Sir Ludwig Guttmann was awarded CBE and OBE by the UK.

It is important to know what really qualifies as disability. There are six groups of qualification in Paralympic games, such as intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, amputee, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries and the last is disabilities not included in five other groups. Sports in Paralympic games have their own rules, but still based on standard sports rules. There are different types of sports in Paralympic games. As an example, Alpine Skiing is performed in Paralympics and it involves the use of Mono Ski. It is obvious that many disabled skiers can’t stand and they need to have specific tools. Cross country is another type of sports that are performed in Paralympics and it has encouraged many people to follow it.

Wheelchair curling is also included in the Paralympics Games and it works similarly like traditional curling. In this case, athletes will sit on the wheelchairs and they propel the stone to a cue (a type of pusher). The stones will be pushed on the ice surface to the concentric rings. However, we should be aware that the activity of pushing a stone can be quite demanding, compared to standard curling. In this case athletes can play only when the chair is stationary, which makes it more difficult than standard curling.

Ice sledge hockey is a highly active kind of sport and it has been adapted in the Paralympic Games. In this case, Paralympic athletes use a special kind of sledge made of light, aluminium material and there are also two steel blades. Players will carry a double-ended tool, with curved blade one end and a pick on another. The former should allow players to shoot the puck, while the latter allows players to gain enough traction, while they are propelling on the ice.

Biathlon skiing and shooting are others things that we need to consider. The main difference between regular shooting and Paralympic games is the aiming position. However, shooting in Paralympic games is always based on the prone position. In general, training for disabled people in Paralympic games can be quite demanding and these Paralympic athletes should be highly praised for their determination. This proves that sports are not always for people with healthy bodies. In many cases, Paralympic games are as exciting as standard sports.